Starvation Flats facts for kids
Starvation Flats is a special area located in the San Bernardino Mountains in California. It's close to the popular Big Bear Lake, California. For thousands of years, this place was home to the Serrano people, a Native American tribe.
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History of Starvation Flats
Starvation Flats used to be a wide-open mountain area. It was a wild place where grizzly bears sometimes roamed.
Early Explorers and Bears
In 1845, a man named Don Benito Wilson led a group of 22 other men into this area. They were looking for "rustlers," which are people who steal cattle. However, instead of rustlers, they mostly found bears!
Settlers and Challenges
After this, people called "homesteaders" started to move into the area. Homesteaders were people who wanted to settle on land and farm it. They hoped to build new lives there.
But living in Starvation Flats was very difficult. The soil wasn't good for farming, and their crops often failed. This made it hard for them to grow enough food and live comfortably.
Dealing with Bears and Discovering Gold
To make the area safer for the new settlers, they asked for help from William F. Holcomb. He was famous for being a very skilled shooter. Holcomb successfully helped to remove the grizzly bears from the area. This made it much safer for the homesteaders to live and work.
After helping the settlers, William F. Holcomb went on to make an important discovery. He found gold nearby, which led to the creation of Holcomb Valley.
